Postnatal Care: Mental Health Services
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to improve provision of post-natal mental health care in Lincolnshire.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock
Significant progress across England has been made in recent years to ensure that women experiencing moderate to severe perinatal mental health problems can access specialist perinatal mental health services for up to two years after giving birth. This includes Mother and Baby Units, such as the one in Lincolnshire, maternal mental health services, and specialist perinatal mental health community teams.
Lincolnshire is one of 75 local authorities that is receiving funding to provide bespoke perinatal mental health and parent-infant relationship support through the Family Hubs and Start for Life programme.
However, more is needed. Access to these services varies across the country and too many people with mental health issues, including mothers in the 24 months postpartum, are not getting the support or care they need. NHS England is working to ensure that services are accessible to all women who need them.
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